


Shelter From the Storm

by bluemermaid



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-20
Updated: 2014-12-20
Packaged: 2018-03-02 08:41:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2806358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluemermaid/pseuds/bluemermaid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marietta treks through a blizzard in an attempt to find some shelter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shelter From the Storm

The snow was falling so thickly that Marietta could barely see an inch in front of her. She had a scarf wrapped tightly around her face, but still she could feel the biting cold winds as they attempted to stop her trek, pushing hard on her face and body, and sending chills through her.

“This is utterly insane,” she thought to herself, reeling as another gust nearly made her fall over into the snow. Looking down, she couldn't even see her feet; her boots sank deeply into snowdrifts with every step. It was lucky she'd thought to _impervius_ herself before she'd left. She may have been freezing, but at least she wasn't wet.

Still, she was beginning to regret her decision to leave her only source of shelter at the moment. It had seemed so easy to come from a warm room at the inn to walk only as far as the center of Hogsmeade, which wasn't very far at all from where she was staying. But distances seemed to grow by miles when one was walking in the midst of a blizzard. 

“I ought to turn back,” Marietta thought. She tried to look behind her, but the tight winter hat she was wearing restricted her movement. There wasn't much to see, anyway; all was white all around her. Yes, this was most definitely a mistake. But there was simply no turning back now; she had begun, and she had come too far to turn around.

And so she walked, stumbling through the snow, with the wind and flakes biting what little bits of skin were exposed, and with Marietta wishing it would all end quickly. She walked, though, until she bumped into another human being.

“Mari!” The voice was like a whisper on the wind, though he was shouting it directly into her face. Marietta couldn't help but grin beneath her scarf, for seeing Zacharias Smith always made her grin, even when she was freezing and furious at him for making her come out in this. “Follow me,” he yelled, grabbing hold of her, and guiding her through the driving snow.

With her gloved hand tight in Zach's, Mari felt a sense of peace come over her, that everything was going to be all right. In fact, the blizzard looked wonderful now, with swirling white flakes plummeting down all around them. Zacharias would keep her safe, as he had before, when they had been together daily, sneaking around the halls of Hogwarts. 

They reached a building and tumbled inside, where Marietta recognized it immediately as the Three Broomsticks, which was nearly deserted. Rosmerta the barmaid appeared startled to see the two of them. “Out in this storm? I thought they would have cancelled the weekend, what with all this snow. Here, though, have a seat, you two. Let me get you some nice warm butterbeers to get all that chill off you.”

“They did cancel the weekend, though, didn't they,” Marietta accused, eyeing Zacharias as he loosened his robe. She really would have no idea, as Marietta was no longer a student at Hogwarts. She missed it sometimes, the myriad of spells to learn, the safety of her dormitory, and the aforementioned sneaking around with Zach, of course. But you could never go back to your past, no matter how much you might wish to.

Zacharias shrugged, with a gleam in his eye. “I wouldn't know,” he said. “I left first thing in the morning, before any such announcements may have been made.”

“Zach Smith, that's not a very Hufflepuff thing to do,” Marietta said, with a laugh. “I thought you badgers were all about doing the right thing.”

“Once again you wound me by confusing my house's values with Gryffindor's,” Zacharias replied, with a hand over his heart. “Puffs are about working hard and playing fair, and you know what they say about what's fair.”

“No, what do they say?” Marietta asked. She knew, of course, but she still loved hearing him say it.

“That everything's fair, of course,” Zach replied, smiling at her. “In love, at least.”

“Oh, and this applies?” Marietta asked, just as Rosmerta brought their butterbeers over.

“I'm not even going to bother responding,” said Zacharias, taking his glass for a nice big gulp of the warm liquid within. “As we both know full well why you decided to come here today.”

“Because perhaps I was hoping to run into some of my old Ravenclaw friends,” Marietta said teasingly, bumping Zach's leg under the table.

He gave her a mock scowl. “Oh, really?” he demanded, leaning in close to her. “Because _this_ said otherwise to me.” And he pulled on her scarf.

And of course it did, because Marietta the former Ravenclaw had chosen to wear a black-and-yellow scarf that morning. It was one of Zach's, of course, that he had given to her the previous winter, when she had forgotten hers on a Hogsmeade outing. Not one filled with as much snow as this one, but a wintery one just the same. Since then, it had represented not Hufflepuff to her, but Zacharias, and how much he cared about her. How much they cared about each other.

Marietta beamed and leaned her head on Zach's shoulder. “I've missed you, Zacharias,” she said quietly, placing her hand over his. “I wish we could be together. I wish you could help me figure all this out.”

“Soon,” he said to her, pulling her hat off so that he could stroke her unruly curls. He loved doing that, and Marietta always felt comforted by the action. She closed her eyes and sighed. “Soon this blasted war will be over, and I'll be free from Hogwarts forever. And then we'll be together.”

“But we don't know which way it's going to go,” Marietta said.

Zacharias bumped her shoulder. “Sit up and drink your butterbeer,” he said. “It'll cheer you up a little bit.”

“But Zach,” she started.

“Look, I know we both had our reservations about Potter, but I'd like to keep a level head about this,” Zacharias told her. “Things look dark right now, but you never know which way they're going to go. So keep your head up and drink your butterbeer.”

Marietta hesitated, then smiled tentatively at him. “All right,” she said.

Zach pulled on Marietta's Hufflepuff scarf again, drawing her nearer until he could plant a gentle kiss upon her lips. “Just watch the storm,” he said quietly. “It's actually rather nice, from the inside.”

And it was. They watched the snowflakes flying outside the windows, drinking their butterbeers and taking what little shelter they could gather from the storm.


End file.
